Jury: Stockton didn't discriminate in firing

Thursday

Feb 16, 2017 at 2:41 PMFeb 16, 2017 at 5:35 PM

Roger Phillips Record Staff Writer @rphillipsblog

SACRAMENTO — An eight-member jury ruled unanimously Thursday afternoon that evidence presented in a two-week civil trial was insufficient to prove that Stockton fired the former manager of its Office of Violence Prevention because she was pregnant and as retaliation for blowing the whistle on alleged wrongdoing by the city.

Asked her reaction afterward, Glynn said, “I don’t know if I can make a statement right now.” She then hurriedly departed.

Her attorney, Gary Basham, said, “We’re disappointed. It’s going to take some reflection and analysis of what the jury decided.”

Basham did not rule out an appeal but declined further comment.

Jesse Maddox, an attorney who represented the city, said he thought an appeal unlikely.

“I think it’s probably over and done with,” Maddox said. “I think Ms. Glynn has moved on with her life.”

The city fired Glynn two years ago only four months after her hiring as the first leader of a newly created office that focuses on tackling Stockton’s generational crime and gang violence.

She was nine months pregnant when she was fired, and during the reading of the verdict Thursday, it was Basham who babysat Glynn’s nearly 2-year-old son in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Glynn contended in her lawsuit that her immediate supervisor, Deputy City Manager Christian Clegg, discriminated against her based on pregnancy and gender.

“Today’s unanimous verdict reflects the truth,” City Manager Kurt Wilson said. “I’m pleased that the jury took the time to weigh the actual facts. However, I’m frustrated that the plaintiff, in making a federal case out of a distorted reality, chose to drag Mr. Clegg’s stellar reputation through the mud in her search for money.”

Glynn’s attorneys asked the jury earlier in the week to find for her and award her damages ranging from $1.1 million to close to $1.4 million. The job Glynn was fired from paid her about $100,000 a year.

The six-man, two-woman jury did find that during her time on the job, Glynn disclosed to officials communications between Peacekeepers and the Stockton Police Department that possibly violated the mandated confidentiality of informants.

Glynn also reported to officials during her tenure that she believed the city was violating overtime rules and underpaying the Peacekeepers.

But the jury did not find that the city’s firing of Glynn was in retaliation for any of her disclosures.

“Did she disclose information to the city? Yes,” Maddox said. “That was not something we ever contested. We feel the city took what she had to say seriously.”

Maddox said there is no belief on the city’s part that Glynn’s disclosures contained accurate information.

“It’s always been our position she brought forth those disclosures without having done any underlying research,” Maddox said.

Maddox acknowledged harboring some mounting concern as the jury’s deliberations, which began Tuesday afternoon, stretched well into Thursday.

“I was relieved when they finally gave their unanimous verdict,” Maddox said.

In defending itself, the city argued that Glynn began to be a problem employee when she asked for a raise and an enhanced job title before ever starting on the job. The problems mounted from there, the city contended.

“We spent seven days of a trial talking about four months of employment,” Maddox said.

One juror said in an interview as he left the courthouse that Glynn’s side fell short of meeting the legal standard of showing that the preponderance of the evidence validated her claims.

“It wasn’t enough,” said the juror, who cited the difficulty of reaching the verdict for his decision to remain anonymous. “It doesn’t feel good knowing what the plaintiff went through and what the decision was. But from our position, the decision was sound.”

— Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/rphillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.

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